Miami-Dade Business Briefs - Sept. 2007

Coconut Grove —
» Watsco Inc. (NYSE-WSO) will acquire Houston-based ACR Group in a cash deal valued at $6.75 per share. With annual sales of $240 million, ACR is one of the largest distributors of air-conditioning and heating products in the U.S. Watsco will acquire 54 locations that serve more than 12,000 contractors.

Kendall —
» Minnesota-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide has opened a Country Inn & Suites By Carlson with 97 rooms in the Kendall section of southwest Miami.

Key West —
» DogFriendly.com ranked Key West fourth on its 2007 list of “Top 10 dog-friendly resort regions” in the U.S., based on the availability of parks, beaches, restaurants and accommodations for travelers and their pets. Portland, Maine, ranked first.

Miami —
» Airgroup Corp., a subsidiary of Radiant Logistics, a domestic and global logistics services company, will expand its North American operations by launching international gateway services in Miami. The new Airgroup-MIA office will offer domestic and international freight forwarding services and include a 55,000-sq.-ft. warehouse, 12 loading docks and two railroad sidings.

» American Tire Distributors of Charlotte, N.C., is buying the wholesale distribution centers of Miami-based Martino Tire, which has five wholesale locations — Miami, Pompano Beach, Fort Myers, Tampa and Daytona Beach. Martino Tire’s 27 retail stores are not part of the deal.

» A federal jury in Miami convicted Nelson Valdes, owner of Florida Pharmacy, of participating in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme.

» Opko Health (AMEX-OPK) has begun phase three trials of Bevasiranib, a drug designed to prevent vision loss and to stop the growth of lesions in the retina.

» Banco Popular Español bought Miami-based Total Bancshares for $300 million. Total Bancshares adds $1.4 billion in assets to the $120-billion asset Madrid bank.

» XChange Communications, a telecommunications company based in Miami, has acquired Reliable Telecard and INTC Communications, prepaid telephone card companies.

» The U.S. Labor Department has ordered X-Ray Equipment Co. to pay $1.2 million plus interest to the company’s profit-sharing retirement plan. The department also removed the company, which is facing allegations of mismanagement, from its fiduciary role and appointed independent oversight of retirement funds.

» Lazaro Uvina Salazar, owner of Miami-based MV Research, a medical equipment company, pleaded guilty to filing more than $2 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare.

Miami-Dade County —
» The County Commission unanimously approved an additional $4.1 million to cover greater-than-anticipated operating costs for the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts.

Monroe County —
» In an effort to maintain the solvency of the Monroe County School District’s self-insurance healthcare program and cover a possible shortfall of $1.6 million, the school board voted for a 15% hike in insurance payments. The board will cover about 80% of the increase, with teachers and staffers paying the balance.

Tags: Miami-Dade